# cbid junkies click here.



## -MG- (Apr 22, 2008)

In my short stay here so far it's become very obvious that most of you deserve to be blown to smithereens&#8230; unfortunately I don't have the ammo stockpile of many of you, and would just feel silly waging a war with my potato gun equivalent.

Given that, I found my own way to bomb most of you where it would hurt the most. Cbid.

Next time you feel the urge to make a bid, check out CHIMP (Cbid Historical Information Management Program) first, and place an educated bid. So far I have data from 1/1/2008 to about a week ago. I plan on updating the database with new auctions weekly, until I get around to making the process automatic. I'll also be adding dates back to 1/1/06 over the next week or so, for those of you that want to look at price trends over the last couple of years.

My database has pretty much all the data you see on an auction's page after it's closed (including bidder information, if they used auto-bid, etc), so if there are other features you'd like reported on, post here, and I'll see what I can do.

Thanks to Wondering Nomad for his post that inspired this app.

Happy Bidding!
-Kris :cb


----------



## Greenwit (Sep 15, 2005)

Good work....you're not tracking boxes?


----------



## nozero (Jul 7, 2007)

:tu
Damn, I paid $3.00 too much!

Cool idea!


----------



## Beachjeep90 (Jan 30, 2008)

Sweet! Its like looking at stocks, you can see trends of people paying more or less during certain dates. :tu Thanks for the link


----------



## icehog3 (Feb 20, 2005)

-MG- said:


> In my short stay here so far it's become very obvious that most of you deserve to be blown to smithereens&#8230; unfortunately I don't have the ammo stockpile of many of you, and would just feel silly waging a war with my potato gun equivalent.


Remember...it isn't the contents of a bomb, but the thought and gesture that count.


----------



## ChasDen (Dec 12, 2007)

Very nice work :tu

Just curious how they will react to this, unless you work for them somehow. I was tracking the stuff I was buying (about 24 to 36 brands) and it got to be too time consuming. One thing I would like to see if your starting a wish list is a way to combine all the same cigars with different titles. Example being Gurkha Legends. They have different titles for the same cigar for different sections of the site. RP vintage is another example of the titles being different. Often the same auctions in the "samplers" section would go for far less than the same amount of cigars in the "boxes" section. 

Not sure why but it happens. 

Thanks,
Chas

PS - A little RG bump for the hard work :tu


----------



## Trajan (Apr 21, 2008)

wow, just wow


----------



## -MG- (Apr 22, 2008)

Greenwit said:


> Good work....you're not tracking boxes?


It's tracking everything, even merchandise. If a box is 20 cigars, just choose the type, and choose 20 cigars. I guess technically if they sold 20 loose and 20 in a box, it doesn't differentiate, but it is tracking them.

Good idea though, I'll add a pull down so you can select only certain categories.


----------



## demiurgic (Feb 18, 2008)

MG 

EXCELLENT work on the program, nice plotting, love the links to actual bids, etc, etc.
Glad you included humidors and other accessories as well. 

Again, Good job! :tu 

demi


----------



## -MG- (Apr 22, 2008)

ChasDen said:


> Very nice work :tu
> 
> Just curious how they will react to this, unless you work for them somehow. ..... One thing I would like to see if your starting a wish list is a way to combine all the same cigars with different titles....


I'm not associated with them at all... I was also wondering how they'd react, but it's all public information, so we'll see :tu

I like the idea of combining like cigars, but without some master title cross-referencing list, I'm not sure how to pull it off. As it is their titles are pretty inconsistent, which is why you'll see similar ones listed a couple of times in my list. I've filtered it out as much as I could find consistent ways to do so.


----------



## smokin5 (Mar 28, 2007)

Now THAT is one h3ll of a killer app!
Kudos & RG to you!:tu


----------



## ChasDen (Dec 12, 2007)

-MG- said:


> I like the idea of combining like cigars, but without some master title cross-referencing list, I'm not sure how to pull it off. As it is their titles are pretty inconsistent, which is why you'll see similar ones listed a couple of times in my list. I've filtered it out as much as I could find consistent ways to do so.


I know, and they even have a few that are misspelled  You would think someone would catch it but last time I was keeping track they were still there.

Inconsistent, but consistently inconsistent. They just keep re-listing the same things in a rotation. Almost like clockwork on many.

Here is just one example:

From 2/13 to 3/4

Gurkha Legend '8 Years Aged' Torpedo (10)
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - 10 Cigars
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - 5-Pack
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - 10 Cigars
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo (5-Pack)
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - 5-Pack
Gurkha Legend '8 Years Aged' Torpedo (10)
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - 5-Pack
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo (5-Pack)
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - 10 Cigars
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo (5-Pack)
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - 10 Cigars

These 2 are the same auction but probably in different sections:
Gurkha Legend '8 Years Aged' Torpedo (10)
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - 10 Cigars

Combining them would give a better snapshot.

RP Vintage was the worst. 
They had so many different titles for the same auctions it drove me insane.

I tracked it in excel and tracked all the bids for each lot. If 10 were available and the lowest winning bid averaged out to $13.00 I would try to be the first guy bidding when it opened and set my max at $13. a lot of the times I got beat out but more often than not I got them for what I was willing to pay and was often the last guy on the list waiting for the next bidder to bump me off the list.

Chas


----------



## -MG- (Apr 22, 2008)

ahh... I see what you mean, and I think my app already half-does that.

It looks for whatever you grab in the dropdown, and does a wildcard search for that starting text, and anything after it. 

So, if you choose "Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo", it will grab any auctions that start with that.. including:

Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - 10 cigars
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - 10 pack sampler
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - 5 pack
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo - great deal
Gurkha '8-Year Aged' Legend Torpedo, the best

etc.. (ok, so I made a couple of those up).


----------



## Wondering Nomad (Jan 23, 2008)

ChasDen said:


> Very nice work :tu
> 
> Just curious how they will react to this, unless you work for them somehow. I was tracking the stuff I was buying (about 24 to 36 brands) and it got to be too time consuming. One thing I would like to see if your starting a wish list is a way to combine all the same cigars with different titles. Example being Gurkha Legends. They have different titles for the same cigar for different sections of the site. RP vintage is another example of the titles being different. Often the same auctions in the "samplers" section would go for far less than the same amount of cigars in the "boxes" section.
> 
> ...


That was the initial problem I had when I built the original list. I ended up spending a lot of time creating a cross reference list to standardize all the different titles. I'm not a programmer so I don't know how you would accomplish that now.

Great work by the way. I'm glad someone was willing to take it to the next level.


----------



## bripper (May 24, 2008)

Great great work Kris. THANK you!


----------



## Homebrewer (May 31, 2008)

Thanks for all the hard work. This is a great resource.


----------



## anderson0196 (May 11, 2008)

This is awesome! Thanks Brother.

For a noob it appears I've lucked out and my CBid experience have been good so far:
- RP Vintage 1992 Robusto, 5 pk for $17 on 5/14
- Torano Casa Torano Toro, 5 pk for $15 on 5/14
- 5 Vegas Miami Toro, box (20) for $58 on 5/26
- RP Fusion Toro, 10 pk for $35.99 on 5/26
- Onyx Reserve Robusto, 5 pk for $15 on 6/11
- RYJ Viejo "B", 5 pk for $15 on 6/11


----------



## Coz77 (Jan 6, 2007)

Well Done!!!


----------



## Dinosaur Jr (Apr 25, 2008)

great work! RG bump this brother.


----------



## Lorglath (Aug 22, 2007)

Friggin love it! thanks!


----------



## craigchilds (Jan 20, 2006)

#1. WOW! You have just changed my life... no, literally, you have *just changed *my life. You *MUST MUST MUS*T keep this up to date.

#2. Some lucky b*stard won 60 Omar Ortez Bellicosos for $88 in January! Honestly, what the **** was I doing that week??? How come I didn't know about Omar Ortez back then? Fess up! Which one of you b*stards did it! Which one!


----------



## bilkay (Feb 6, 2008)

Thanks!

Please update it for boxes (yes, I have moved that far down the slope already!).


----------



## Elltrain (Apr 23, 2008)

My first winning bid came last night, 10 nub 358 habanos for $40. According to this site I lucked out! Woo!

This site is going to keep me at cbid.... way too much...


----------



## bigliver (Jun 3, 2008)

Thanks and good looking out. I know a lot of hard work went into this. I promise I will put it to good use...eventually.


----------



## -MG- (Apr 22, 2008)

Glad to see everybody seems to be enjoying it :tu

I just got done with the necessary tweaks to add a category dropdown... it seems to be working, but if you run into any problems, let me know.


----------



## nozero (Jul 7, 2007)

icehog3 said:


> Remember...it isn't the contents of a bomb, but the thought and gesture that count.


:tu
I've been told this more than once by BOTLs here. Excellent point! You do what you can with what you have. Nobody can expect more!


----------



## El Gato (Apr 2, 2003)

Dude, CHIMP is so awesome.
Thank you so much for the hard work. That's a great gift to all BOTLs.:tu


----------



## bilkay (Feb 6, 2008)

-MG- said:


> Glad to see everybody seems to be enjoying it :tu
> 
> I just got done with the necessary tweaks to add a category dropdown... it seems to be working, but if you run into any problems, let me know.


You, sir, are my hero.


----------



## Greenwit (Sep 15, 2005)

-MG- said:


> It's tracking everything, even merchandise. If a box is 20 cigars, just choose the type, and choose 20 cigars. I guess technically if they sold 20 loose and 20 in a box, it doesn't differentiate, but it is tracking them.
> 
> Good idea though, I'll add a pull down so you can select only certain categories.


I revisited and everything makes sense now. Maybe I just goofed initially.

On a side note, you know you're a Cbid addict when you get an email notification that you won a bid......but you don't remember placing the bid. Happened this morning with the Don Lino Africa Gorda special auction......I remember looking at them and having an interest but not ever placing the bid (as it turns out, five days ago.) Yikes! But, I'll take it.....lot of ten for $29. :sl


----------



## Infin1ty (May 12, 2007)

Excellent idea man, I have a PDF with a good list of information from C-Bid auctions. If you want to take a look, shoot me a PM.


----------



## Shervin (May 29, 2008)

Nice work Kris!


----------



## supdog (Jan 13, 2004)

These are the stats for SPDM Quixote,Max: $52.00 Min: $37.00 Avg: $41.71 # Auctions: 7 but if you go to CI you can buy them for $35.00. I guess it shows how stupid people are.


----------



## craigchilds (Jan 20, 2006)

supdog said:


> These are the stats for SPDM Quixote,Max: $52.00 Min: $37.00 Avg: $41.71 # Auctions: 7 but if you go to CI you can buy them for $35.00. I guess it shows how stupid people are.


I guess the eBay slogan is true: It's better when you win it!

Seriously, I haven't seen this happen too much on CBid. People may be be overbidding slightly in order to save on shipping costs if they've already won another item. You can't combine shipping on a CigarBid order and a CI order. So, if you've already won a CBid auction, you can save about $4-$5 on shipping if you pick up a 2nd box to go with it-- as opposed to buying the 2nd box on CI.

I've spent some time on JR Auctions. People bid up the price more than JR's "normal" price quite a lot. I've never figured it out, since JR shipping is a standard $2.50 per package.


----------



## pusherman (Oct 24, 2007)

Nice looking app, did you write a spider to crawl the site?


----------



## -MG- (Apr 22, 2008)

pusherman said:


> Nice looking app, did you write a spider to crawl the site?


More or less.. I pull the pages locally, store them for safe keeping, then parse them and put all the useful information into a MySQL db.

I expect to have all of the 2007 data up in a couple of days, and hopefully 2006 data 4-5 days after that. :ss


----------



## -MG- (Apr 22, 2008)

Data from the 2007 auctions is now available.

When I get a chance I'll probably change the page to default to just look at the last 6 months, becase the graph's getting a little tight with 1.5 years of plot points.


----------



## scoot (May 26, 2007)

I just grabbed a box of Fuente King B for 91 bucks, this definitely helps. Thanks a lot MG.


----------



## tzaddi (Feb 24, 2007)

-MG- said:


> Data from the 2007 auctions is now available.
> 
> When I get a chance I'll probably change the page to default to just look at the last 6 months, becase the graph's getting a little tight with 1.5 years of plot points.


I have been using your database for several weeks now and my bids are stronger and last much longer and for some reason my wife is smiling more.


----------



## Beatnikbandit (Apr 24, 2007)

tzaddi said:


> I have been using your database for several weeks now and my bids are stronger and last much longer and for some reason my wife is smiling more.


LOL, change one word and its the same thing that happened to me when I started to take this blue pill my Dr gave me. :tu Being stronger and lasting longer is the way to go!

I'll be using this program starting today!!! Hopefully after a couple weeks I also will notice some extra strength in my bids and hopefully they will last longer too.


----------



## mugen910 (May 14, 2008)

Beatnikbandit said:


> LOL, change one word and its the same thing that happened to me when I started to take this blue pill my Dr gave me. :tu Being stronger and lasting longer is the way to go!
> 
> I'll be using this program starting today!!! Hopefully after a couple weeks I also will notice some extra strength in my bids and hopefully they will last longer too.


I was thinking the same thing when I read it.


----------



## elderboy02 (Jun 24, 2008)

Holy crap! As a fellow computer programmer, I would like to say NICE APP! I love the way you use MYSQL to do it. :tu

Here is a little RG bump for you. 

Thanks!


----------



## TDIvey (Mar 2, 2008)

Very nice app - thanks for sharing with all of us.


----------



## yourchoice (Jun 25, 2006)

Bump for a great resource. It isn't completely up to date, but the amount of info and how this aids in bidding is stellar for any of you who haven't used it yet.


----------



## -MG- (Apr 22, 2008)

yourchoice said:


> ...It isn't completely up to date...


Funny you should mention that, I'm updating the database now, and should have an up to date version live in the next couple of days :tu

If I ever take longer than a month to update it, just prod me with a stick and I'll get it done :ss


----------



## kansashat (Mar 13, 2004)

LOL. Very nice work!

I'll bet CI has a similar tracking program for their execs & perhaps for the manufacturers too.

I just lowered the curve on a box a Padilla Habano robustos this past week & got em for $58, which was $21 lower than the lowest price tracked through the middle of August. That one has to smart.


----------



## yourchoice (Jun 25, 2006)

kansashat said:


> I just lowered the curve on a box a Padilla Habano robustos this past week & got em for $58, which was $21 lower than the lowest price tracked through the middle of August. That one has to smart.


I've wondered if with the tougher economic times would some prices dip a little bit.

Glad to hear it's getting updated, will be interesting to track. :tu


----------



## PaleRider (Nov 21, 2008)

Wow, not sure about the being blown to smithereens part, but damn, that is an incredible application. 

Many congratulations to you for your effort!:tu I personally would like to thank you for your hard work on this, and I will use it.

Again, heartfelt thanks to you for your efforts.


----------



## TOB9595 (Apr 24, 2007)

Wonderful is CHIMP

Thank you
Tom


----------



## -MG- (Apr 22, 2008)

OK, it's back up to date! :tu

Revision date and # of auctions in DB are now listed at the bottom to make it a little easier to know if it's current or not.


----------



## -MG- (Apr 22, 2008)

pssst.. CHIMP is out of hibernation, and has finally been updated again :behindsofa:

The delay was due to life being busy and me not wanting to deal with a date rollover bug in the code. Now that that's over with, updates should be more regular again :thumb:

As always, feel free to bug me relentlesly if I quit updating, though know that I won't update more often than every 2 weeks due to some underlying weirdness with how CI numbers their auctions.


----------



## heavyd (Jun 16, 2008)

I use it all the time. Thanks MG


----------



## LookAtBigErn82 (Sep 21, 2008)

Thanks MG, an invaluable site.:biggrin1:


----------



## smakudwn (Aug 3, 2007)

Love the CHIP site!

Why do people consistanly bid over what prices you can find them on a normal site? Ill never understand that.


----------



## Baz (Feb 11, 2009)

This is great...never knew it existed...thanks so much bro!


----------



## wolfmonk (Dec 14, 2008)

Thanks a lot!


----------



## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

CHIMP is a great tool that I always use and I bid on cigars that I already know their values so I never get close to paying over what I need to. I always buy RP for about $27 or Pepiins for around $30 for a bundle. I love smoking the "Fire" by RP and I usually get them for about $14 for 12.


----------



## mjr955201 (Aug 1, 2007)

Hi, my name is Matt, and I am an addict.


----------



## slyder (Mar 17, 2009)

Ive been using CHIMP as well but ive notice obviously that some people are not!! Flor de Oliva Short Torpedos.........$48!!!! WTF? Man u can buy em straight up for $30. CHIMP shows em at $16 min to $34 max. Ive been bidding the minimum....if i get it great....if not...oh well.


----------



## yourchoice (Jun 25, 2006)

Another thank you for this great tool.


----------



## Haon123 (Oct 25, 2008)

yourchoice said:


> Another thank you for this great tool.


Yours is the single most useful website to me on the entire web (google excepted).

Thank you from the bottom of my penny pinching heart.


----------



## eboniknight (Dec 3, 2008)

I'm a Cbid junkie no doubt :smoke:...but I never make a bid without first consulting the C.H.I.M.P.......Big thanks for all your work!!:amen:


----------



## dataz722 (Mar 9, 2009)

Uh-oh!!!! I just placed my first bid


----------



## huskers (Oct 2, 2012)

Is a site like this still around?

Seems this one is closed


----------



## bogiestogie (Jul 22, 2013)

I'm all out of room in the wineador.....ooohhh aaahhh are those God of fire on cbid? Lol. I can't stop


----------



## TCBSmokes (Sep 25, 2013)

Can't find the site.


----------



## DBragg (Jun 13, 2013)

If you use chrome go here. This is a neat little plugin that gives the historical price data on each auction. It only took me a minute to get it installed, and it works great! 
Sloppy and The_Cleric's CigarBid History PLUGIN! : cigars

There is also a plugin in the chrome store, but its ONLY for FREEFALL.


----------



## zoey (Nov 17, 2013)

2nd....link doesn't work


----------



## BoogieEngineer (Oct 16, 2013)

Some bro gives this link Cbid Completed Auctions in a thread of mine. Been using it for a couple days to keep track of the won bids, pretty helpful.


----------



## TCBSmokes (Sep 25, 2013)

BoogieEngineer said:


> Some bro gives this link Cbid Completed Auctions in a thread of mine. Been using it for a couple days to keep track of the won bids, pretty helpful.


That's very cool. Thanks! T.


----------



## zoey (Nov 17, 2013)

okay I checked all my won auctions....no major damage most slightly below average. this also confirms that the liga privada #9 is super expensive all the time as well as the t52.....want to try one or a box but out of my price range at the moment and palate range for that matter.


----------

